L'isola nell'asfalto

Never a dull moment in the life of tabloid editor Grant. He has the unenviable task of telling a young girl that she is now an orphan, he assists in helping the police to arrest a defecting nuclear scientist and if that weren't enough he learns that his neglected wife has not only been unfaithful with one of this staff but is on the passenger list of a plane that has crashed.

By far the most interesting episode however is that which involves the excellent Michael Goodliffe as an idealistic and rather self-righteous reporter who is sent by Grant to cover a mercy killing trial in which the 'accused is' played by Eva Bartok. Although Miss Bartok's performance is wordless it is the most telling.

Although this piece confronts a few moral issues, Gordon Parry's direction lacks an edge and the whole enterprise is somewhat pedestrian. It is the character of Grant that holds the whole film together and requires an actor of presence and perceived moral fibre who also possesses the common touch. Step forward the marvellous Jack Hawkins.

It is unlikely however that Grant's impassioned plea on behalf of the 'honest hack' will find a sympathetic ear in these times when we have a Press that habitually exercises power without responsibility.

I have always felt you can't go wrong with a Jack Hawkins film and this very pleasing very British offering really proves my point as he leads and shines above a competent group of familiar players. It's all very early 1950's ; an era I look back on with nostalgia even though I was just a child. The men all wear hats and coats and the women all wear hats,coats,gloves and furs. Everyone smokes all over the place which may turn people off these days but it was very sophisticated at the time and we were oblivious to the harm it might do. Great scenes of post-war London are a nice added touch. The various story-lines have already been explained and they are smoothly inter-woven giving us a real feel for the frenetic environment of a newspaper office. It's mostly credible and the sort of film you can enjoy watching repeatedly.

This is a wonderful film of almost documentary character showing the life at a newspaper editorial office with Jack Hawkins in charge, happening to all kinds of incidents that have to be followed up and covered, an ordinary day's work for an editor, and it is not easy. There are several very different stories that develop at the same time with that in common that none of them turns out as expected. A young widow (Eva Bartok) is at the Old Bailey charged with murder of her husband, who was dying anyway - it appears to have been some kind of a killing by mercy. A young mother with five kids is lying at the hospital on the operation table with no certain outcome of the operation. A scientist in a high position of nuclear physics is eager to have his message spread by the newspaper to the world while he conveys atomic secrets to the enemy. And Jack Hawkins' wife is leaving him after having been left alone too much.

So there are four different dramas (at least) on the hands of the editorial, and they keep developing to major crises all four of them. The most interesting drama is that of the widow Eva Bartok. Jack Hawkins puts his most critical journalist Michael Goodliffe on the case, which leads to a dramatic climax after everything has gone wrong, questioning for serious the ethics and morals of journalism and showing upsetting interiors of inside stories. Finally there is the ultimate Front Page Story as an air crash consumes all public interest at the cost of what really matters concerning human values... It seldom happens that I want to see a film over again at once, but this was one of them.

The above only reviewer succinctly identifies the main plot elements of this film.My review is therefore concerned with more abstract matters.I saw "Front Page Story" for the first time tonight on Youtube.com which surprised me as I thought I had seen most of the popular films from this era.I always like recognising familiar actors from other films so these were the ones I recognised.From "A Night to Remember(1958): Michael Goodliffe, as designer Thomas Andrews, Joseph Tomelty as ship's doctor Dr O'Loughlin and in a minor role the first officer of the "Californian" although I cannot recall his real name but he also appeared with Jack Hawkins in "Angels One -Five (1952) and with Michael Redgrave/Richard Todd in "The Dam Busters (1955) as a radio officer.

The writer of the screenplay was evidently an admirer of Shakespeare when during a trial scene he paraphrases Portia's "The quality of mercy.." speech from "The Merchant of Venice" and I noticed another Shakespearean quote later which I think was from Julius Caeser about "the good that men do..." said by Mark Anthony as an epitaph.Jack Hawkins unwisely forgets about his wife's need for companionship by reneging on a promise to take her on a holiday to Paris despite several of his journalist colleagues exhorting him to take the break.As it turned out it saved his life as the plane crashed after taking off from Northolt (which is an RAF aerodrome now, not a civilian one) familiar to me as I used to live in Northwood Middlesex which is near.Jenny Jones a child actress played her part as the grieving daughter of her mother who dies in the film.

The moral I suppose is don't become a workaholic as this can produce psychological problems and stresses in a marriage.Average I rated it 6/10.

Despite some soap-opera melodramatics and a bit of speech-making at the end, this is in an extremely well made film, directed expertly by Gordon Parry with a excellent cast of British character actors in all the supporting roles. The Fleet Street office seems particularly convincing compared to the cliche Front Page atmosphere of most newspaper American films. Jack Hawkins is the star; his usual dependable self, the epitome of the decent Englishman, torn between his conscience and the demands of daily journalism. The various sub-plots are nicely woven together, and the pace never lets up. A first rate job of entertaining filmmaking.